Rebirth ON A BREAK
by peadragon
Summary: The crew don't know much about their latest passenger and she wants to keep it that way. When a desire for privacy drives her to the company of a certain merc who doesn't ask questions both end up tangled in a web of secrets, trust and unexpected romance.
1. New Cargo

Author's note: This is set after the TV series and before the movie, however the events of the movie are unlikely to ever happen in my head, and will definitely not be featured in the story. Nor those of the comic books, as I have not read them. Also, Inara has left Serenity just as she announced she was going to at the end of the series.

I'd like to take the time here to thank the two beta readers whose help has been invaluable to this story.

I would not have been able to be so very pleased with my character and her depth if I hadn't had some awesome profile beta'ing performed by Novadestin (who you can find through an author search on ff dot net) She has been so very helpful (and patient) :P I am very, very grateful to her. I have had another awesome beta all along that has helped me immensely, especially with my grammar, and without whom I would have never gotten to the point where I started this account and posted this stuff online or would have even continued to write it. I'm sorry liviconnor that I took so long to thank you here, my manners were off in their own world. Thank you so much for all of your help. :)

Plus, while I'm at it, the feedback and critiquing I have received through comments on this site have been far more helpful than I could have hoped and at times has kept me motivated when I thought I was never going to be able to continue. So thank you's for everyone. :)

So. After saying that. Please comment and tell me what you think. Critiques, even full blown criticism, so long as it's about the story. I want feedback!

* * *

Abbey dragged her tired legs the last few steps down the alley, finally reaching the door she was looking for and hauling herself inside. Her eyes blinked rapidly as they adjusted to the gloom, slowly making out the lumpy silhouettes of furniture, draped with sheets.

"Best get a move on then," she muttered to herself, and pushed gently off the wall she had been leaning against. Nausea and dizziness almost overwhelmed her, but she fought it back. She couldn't afford to faint now.

She managed to shuffle across the room, finally falling to her knees in front of a group of metal cases. Lifting the lid of the one in the middle, she plunged her arms into the sea of belongings, feeling around blindly until her fingers hit hard plastic. Thank the stars! Her P-CAD* was just where she left it, tucked snugly beneath all the possessions she had left in the world. Slowly and carefully she directed her aching fingers to hit the necessary keys, and before long the communications terminal was ringing.

On the other end of the connection, Inara rolled over in her bed and groaned softly. The annoying electronic alert on her communications console was not going away as she dearly wished it would. Silently she vowed that if this was Mal calling, she would hunt him down and throw him off his own ship into the black of space. No client would dare be this rude to a registered companion. It had to be Mal.

When she dragged herself over to the flashing screen however, hugging the sheet tighter around her shoulders, it was a different familiar face that greeted her. "_T__yen shiao duh_!" she gasped, her brain waking rapidly from the shock.

One half of her friend's face was swollen, covered almost completely by a giant yellow bruise, forcing her left eye almost shut. "Inara." Abbey's normally sweet voice was a cracked whisper. "I- I didn't know who else to contact. I need to get off-world."

Inara opened her mouth, about to ask what had happened, but Abbey cut her off. "I don't care how, but soon, and discreetly."

Inara nodded and bit her questions back; there would be time for that later. For now a plan was already starting to form in her mind, and it needed her to be quick. "It just so happens that I have a few friends in that area at the moment," Inara offered. "If I call them now, I might be able to catch them before they leave."

Abbey nodded. "I've some money set aside, in the bank. If I give you the numbers can you access it and use it as payment?"

Inara nodded absentmindedly, but her thoughts quickly reverted back to concern for her friend. "What happened to you?" She reached her hand out to the screen, trying to comfort Abbey.

Abbey frowned, turning the injured side of her face away. "I'm at my brother's old place. I'll need transport for my things," she stated, and then she disconnected the call.

Inara, slightly disconcerted by the sudden end to the call, busied herself calling Mal. It was a call that took longer than expected. First she had to wake him up, which was no mean feat. Then she had to wait for him to get past the fact that she was wearing only a sheet wrapped tightly around her body. And he especially didn't like that she would not tell him anything about this person who needed his help.

"A friend of mine needs transport. That's all you need to know." she stated imperiously. Mal -wanting to lift off before sunrise- gave in.

Abbey sat on her luggage case, waiting anxiously for her help to arrive. After Inara had confirmed her friends could help, Abbey had spent quite some time stumbling around trying to bind her chest flat. Eventually the bruising to her abdomen forced her to concede defeat. Instead two loose-fitting shirts and a waistcoat with a bulky coat buttoned loosely over top disguised her curves. With her long hair shoved under a cap, and her face hidden beneath the coat's deep hood she just might be able to pass for male. At least until they cleared atmo.

Just then a vehicle rounded the corner, cutting off her train of thought. The sound of its engine was multiplied to a roar in the silent night. Abbey couldn't believe she hadn't heard it earlier. She slid down off her seat atop the metal case and steadied herself against it, the shock and noise making her head spin and turning her legs to jelly. She kept her gaze on the dusty ground as the 4x4 pulled up in front of her. Slowly she raised her eyes to the driver, her face still hidden deep within her hood.

"You Inara's friend?" he grunted. Abbey tried to nod in what she thought was a manly way.

Seemingly unfazed by her silence, he jumped down from the driver's seat and strode over to her luggage. Abbey watched as he lifted the metal case, that she had dragged slowly and painfully out into the alley, with ease.

His brown hair was cropped close to his head, not much longer than the stubble on his chin. He was wearing dirty cargo pants and a tight T-shirt that didn't even bother trying to hide his abundance of muscles. He wasn't at all what she was expecting of a friend of Inara's. She had imagined she would be meeting the Captain she had heard so much about, but this man was far too rough looking to be him. Abbey herself had never really gotten the appeal in the 'tough guy' look. She knew some women liked the rougher guys, and sure they were manly enough. But there wasn't necessarily any particular merit in that, and what else could they boast?

Belatedly, she realized that the man was back in the driver's seat, and watching her warily, a worried kind of smirk on his face. Without saying anything – the silence was awkward enough without her effeminate voice adding to the confusion – Abbey grabbed her backpack and pushed herself slowly off the wall. She staggered slightly to one side before she regained her balance and headed for the space in-between the trailer and the transporter, planning to tuck herself in next to her luggage. Before she could step foot inside, however, the driver reached out, and encircled her wrist with his hand, leading her to the seat behind him.

"You're ridin' up here," he ordered.

Abbey grudgingly climbed up onto the seat, letting her legs fall on either side. She held herself a few inches back from the driver, hands gripping his waist as he drove off down the alley.

Mal watched his latest cargo from the space between the front of the trailer and the newly added metal case. He had been lucky that the alley was dark or the boy would have definitely seen him when he had tried to climb into the exact same spot. Relaxing the grip on his gun, Mal decided that if they hadn't been ambushed by now they probably weren't going to be. With that worry set aside he turned his full attention to this boy that Inara had been so gorram secretive about. He was probably a high class boy, judging from his neat clothes and the almost comical way he held himself back from Jayne, as if trying not to get grease on himself. And definitely either high, or drunk, or both, from the way he stumbled over to the mule. Most likely made a nuisance of himself in one too many drunken brawls, or got in too deep with his supplier. So now it was up to Mal to help him out… Well, money was money, and Mal admitted he had done worse jobs for less as they drove back up the ramp to Serenity.

Zoe was waiting, and she shut the door behind them as Jayne began to unload the luggage. She beckoned Mal over when she was done which caused their new arrival to squeal childishly as he unfolded himself from his hiding place. Mal wondered yet again why Inara had bothered to call helping this runt important.

"Is there a problem?" he asked tersely, watching Zoe pace back and forth.

"Might be nothing Capt'n. But the secretary to Alliance General Gregory Morgan called while you were out."

"_Aiya_!" Mal exclaimed under his breath. "What'd he want?"

"Wanted to know if we were taking any passengers on, during our stay." She looked pointedly over to the mule, "and he inquired on the reason for our delayed departure."

Neither of them needed to say that these were concerns a little below the notice of one of the most influential retired Alliance men on Persephone. "Well, what did you tell him?" Mal hissed.

"I told him no; an' that our Capt'n was a little bit late staggering back from the bar..." Zoe glanced warily over at the boy. "Do you think this is on account of our cargo?" she asked.

Mal frowned. What were the chances that it wasn't? "We could dump him straight back out," he suggested. Half joking. Half not. He glanced over at the boy still balancing on the back of the transporter. He hadn't said a word or acknowledged anyone since they had arrived. Mal didn't like that. He really didn't like Inara's refusal to answer any questions about him. And he definitely didn't like the hood.

"Boy! C'mere!" he called out gruffly, jerking his head.

The boy didn't move or even react.

"Capt'n's talkin' to you!" Jayne barked, reaching out to shake the boy by the shoulder.

Yet before Jayne could lay a finger on him, the boy shot his hand out, gripping tightly onto his wrist. Jayne looked down slowly; the hand was unnaturally pale and slick with cold sweat. "Are you OK kid?" he asked, stepping back as the boy slid off the transporter and onto his feet.

Abbey tried to say she was fine, but she couldn't make her throat work. She raised her face to look the man in the eye but her head spun and she swayed suddenly, almost collapsing to the ground. Instinctively, the man reached out his arm to curl it around Abbey's waist, trying to support her. The pain that shot through her side from the bruising cleared her head temporarily of the heavy fog dragging it down to unconsciousness. She had just enough time to register the smell of grease and sweat before her knees gave way and she crumpled suddenly, slumping against him then dropping down before he had the time to re-adjust his grip. She felt the pain as her bruised face hit the cold metal and tasted blood before the world faded into nothing.

"Is he OK?" Mal asked, rushing over as Jayne rolled the boy onto his back, and pushed his jacket away to try and see what was wrong.

Blood was leaking rapidly from the left side pocket, where the boy's hand was oddly crammed after he had landed on top of it. Carefully he eased the hand out. It was bandaged yet still bleeding profusely from a small but deep gash on the palm. Jayne was so concerned with pressing the remaining bandage scraps to the gash that he didn't even notice the boy's face until he heard Zoe's muttered curse and looked up.

The hood had fallen away to reveal a pale female face, half covered with a giant yellow bruise, so swollen it was hard to see her left eye amongst the damage. Blood oozed over her face, dripping down her neck out of several nicks and scratches hidden amongst the bruising.

"Get the doc," Jayne growled, turning to find Mal had already left.

Closing the small, now obviously feminine, hand over the soaked bandages, Jayne lifted her carefully. She hung limp in his arms as he carried her across the cargo bay and down to the infirmary.

* * *

_Notes:_

_*P-CAD = My name for a Personal Cortex Access Device (like a PDA) as used by Dobson in the episode Serenity. I figure his was an Alliance one, and hers is a civilian issue so not the same model, but P-CAD could be the generic term like PDA is. It is pronounced pee-cad in case that wasn't clear._

_Tyen shiao duh = name of all that's sacred_

_Aiya = Damn!_


	2. Questions

When Abbey came to she couldn't remember where she was. She kept still and quiet, not wanting to alert anyone she was awake until she figured out what was going on. A bright light burnt into the back of her eyelids and the sheet beneath her cheek was stiff and scratchy. Her heart raced. She couldn't be in a hospital. That was not good. The events of her escape came slowly back to her. She thought she'd made it. She thought she'd gotten help. She was supposed to be off-world.

Abbey forced herself to calm down and her head stopped pounding, her mind cleared. She could hear soft voices talking close by. "...bruising on her face is four, maybe five days old but the other injuries – the nicks, the gash on her hand, grazing on her knees, bruised abdomen and sprained wrist - are fresh, probably just before we picked her up. She likely had a minor concussion before she fell…" He seemed to pause deliberately there for a few seconds and there was a short male grunt from far away.

"She fell of her own accord doc. Wasn't no-one's fault" a much closer voice interjected quickly.

"It looks as though she was treated professionally yesterday or the day before," the first voice continued. "But she shouldn't have been up and about just yet."

The voices sounded familiar, but Abbey couldn't place them. It didn't matter; if she was in a hospital she was still on Persephone, and so it was only a matter of time before she was back there. She turned her head and tried to open her eyes. Her right did as she wanted but her left ached too badly. Abbey moaned quietly and tried to sit up as she heard footsteps approach, but a hand pushed her gently back down. A doctor with dark hair hovered blurrily into view above her. "My name is Simon," he offered. "You need to rest."

Abbey shook her head sluggishly despite the panic causing her heart to race and tried again to sit, but the man wouldn't let her up. "Captain Mal has orders directly from Inara to make you rest," he insisted.

Her mouth twitched in a smile; Abbey imagined that the Captain didn't appreciate being bossed around by Inara. Lulled by the knowledge she was safe, with people Inara trusted, Abbey gave in and relaxed. Before long she'd drifted back to sleep.

When Abbey woke up for the second time, most of the fog had cleared from her mind. She sat up gingerly, and this time there was no hand to force her to rest. Carefully, she slipped from the bench she'd been lying on and padded to the door. Just as she was about to step her first foot out of the room, the dirty tough guy appeared in front of her. She stepped back quickly.

"An' where do you think you're goin'?" he asked, arms spread across the doorway to block her exit. Before Abbey could answer, Simon rounded the corner.

"Jayne, are you terrorizing my patient?" he demanded, lifting the big man's arm away from the door frame and sliding past him into the room.

"I swear Doc, I was just tellin' her to get back in bed." Jayne smirked and raised his eyebrow at Abbey from behind the doc's back. She didn't know whether to be a little scared by the crude statement or amused at the feminine name.

"Jayne!" she heard someone else bark. "Leave off her an' get back to work!"  
Jayne shrugged and turned around, disappearing around the corner. Abbey was left to assume from the authority in this voice that it belonged to Captain Malcolm Reynolds - then he strode in to view and she knew it did. Inara hadn't often talked about the crew she had flown with. Mal was the only one she had described even briefly, but the few choice words she had used left him unmistakeable to Abbey. Actually she probably could have identified him on 'self-righteous' alone.

He smiled at her, curious eyes inspecting her damaged face. "I'm Capt'n Malcolm Reynolds, and I've been told it's none of my concern who you are." The care on his face softened the annoyed tone, and Abbey relaxed a little; there was a good chance that everything would be OK now.

"How are you feeling?" Mal asked, except Abbey got the distinct impression that he really wanted to ask other things, like who the heck she was...

"I'm fine," she assured him shakily, and completely unconvincingly, "and my name is Abbey."

She opened her mouth to say more - to explain, but then she realized that she didn't really want to. Not even a little bit. Not even to lie. Instead she drifted back to her chair, holding her hand up to her head and feigning a little bit more confusion than she actually felt.

Simon stepped forward to help her sit back down. "You might still feel a little bit woozy and disorientated for a few hours," he told her. "You should stay lying down for a day or so, but first I'd like to look at your eye, if you're feeling up to it. Did anyone who treated you before talk to you about the damage to your eye?"

Abbey tried to remember, maybe they had. "No," she finally concluded. "They didn't do much talking to me. They talked to my- Well, I assume they told everyone who needed to know..."

Mal shifted restlessly, from where he was leaning against the door frame.

"Well, about that-"

"What about my eye?" Abbey insisted – pretending she hadn't even heard him. "Other than it hurts like crazy, what's wrong with it?"

Simon looked uncomfortably between her and Mal, before directing his gaze straight into her good eye. "You received a very hard, sharp blow to the head." His tone sounded like he was reading from a textbook, "the impact caused Hyphema in your left eye, meaning blood pooled in the anteri-"

"So as we can understand you Doc." Mal interrupted gruffly.

Simon smiled tightly and continued. "Blood pooled in the front chamber in your eye. The trauma has caused Heterochromia."

Mal cleared his throat loudly.

"Your left eye has changed color, darkened to be exact," Simon explained. Abbey lapsed into a still kind of silence, trying to absorb the information.

"The case wasn't too severe," he continued, "and it was healing well, but you damaged it again when you fell the other night. You may suffer some vision loss, but without any hospital grade equipment I couldn't do much about that." He looked apologetically down at her, but with everything that had already happened to her in the past few days Abbey found it hard to get her head around this as well. She simply sat quietly as Simon performed vision tests and inspected her other injuries. It didn't seem like long before he declared she was ready to leave the infirmary and journey to her room where she would be confined to bed for at least two more days.

* * *

Author's note: Reading this story you may get the impression I dislike Mal. That is not the case. I am a little mean to him, yes. But that is just because he's so easy to pick on. Still I'm not sure if Abbey's comment about him being self-righteous sounded more mean than it was supposed to. Him and Abbey do not get along, and never will. Not because he's a bad person, but because they have extremely clashing personalities which is perfectly normal in life.

Once again critiques are awesome. Feel free to tell me if you think a certain character wouldn't say that, do that, etc.


	3. Blue eyes

Abbey knelt in front of her luggage at the bottom of her bed slowly sorting through the items apart from clothes she had managed to bring with her. She sifted through her "essential" books – barely a quarter of her collection had been packed for practical reasons – and picked out the ones she felt she could safely display, a mere six. She stacked them on the shelf at the head of her bead.

She picked up her favorite book and flicked through the pages. Her brother had given it to her before he'd left. It had been so long since she'd seen Griff she could only guess what he looked like now. He'd been 26 when he'd skipped Persephone in the pursuit of love and idealism and all those poet's things. He'd looked so naive and hopeful that she hadn't been able to bring herself to try and talk him out of it. Not that she'd cared to try over-much. They had never been close, never really had anything in common. As children the one thing they had shared was a love for the tales their mother told. Especially the legends of Earth-that-was. So before he left, he'd stopped by to give her a book.

It was a rare book in her collection, because it was the only book she possessed that's purpose wasn't to further her learning. A small hardbound collection of myths and legends. Not all were about Earth-that-was, but most were. She ran her hand over the worn leather cover and slipped it safely inside the drawer on her desk.

She sat on her bed for a second before returning to her luggage, unpacking various other possessions. She hung her coats on the hooks by the door and lined her shoes up against the wall underneath. She was re-arranging the clothes left in her chest when her fingers brushed the cool surface of the mirror she'd tucked away underneath her dresses the night she'd left. She hesitated. Should she take it out? She wanted to see the damage for herself, but what if it was horrible? Not the bruise – she wasn't that air-brained. Her eye. Simon had said it was darker. Was that permanent? She hadn't had the presence of mind to ask him.

Slowly Abbey drew it out, face-down, and placed it on the desk next to her bed. She closed and locked her chest and walked back over to the desk, slipping into the chair in front of it. Was the difference very noticeable? she wondered as she settled back into the chair. Did it look weird? Eventually, she reached forward and stood the mirror up; revealing a plain, battered-looking woman curled up in a seat and staring nervously back at her.

Her bruise looked better than she had expected. It was healing quite well and was now only a light shade of yellow with some purplish tinge to the edges. It was still a little swollen though, pushing her eye almost closed so that she couldn't see the iris color.

Her right eye was the same smoky gray-blue it had always been - a little closer to green today as it was reflecting the drab khaki from the walls of the room. She leaned in closer and opened her left eye as far as she could. Her pupil was heavily dilated so that the iris looked almost totally black. Slowly, however it re-adjusted to the light and Abbey was able to see it was a much deeper and darker shade of blue than her right. Kind of a dark stormy blue.

She leaned back and compared the colors They couldn't be more dissimilar and yet both still be blue. Abbey closed her eyes slowly and drew her knees up to her chest. She had never put beauty too high on her priority list; obsessing over it like other girls had seemed useless and superficial to her. The bruise was nothing, it would heal. The cuts were too small to leave visible scars. But her eye... she had always been kind of fond of her eyes. Now she couldn't figure out how she felt about them.

She had been excited the past few weeks, finally getting off Persephone. She was going to find her brother, and live on some border planet with him. She was going to see things. Things other than fancy ballrooms and rich stuffy people. Now she was just exhausted. She didn't care if she never met any of the other passengers on this ship. She wasn't even sure she cared if she never encountered another human being again.

Suddenly, as if in answer to her increasingly dark thoughts, the door to the room slid open and Simon walked in. He frowned when he saw her sitting at the desk. "You should be in bed," he stated, trying to hide the pity in his eyes as he watched her turn the mirror face-down again.

Abbey stood and shuffled slowly over to the bed. She'd meant to change into fresh clothes before she slept, but now she was too tired to even keep her eyes open as she slid between the sheets. She pushed thoughts of her eye aside and relaxed, letting sleep take a quick hold of her. She was unaware if Simon had left the room or not as she fell instantly into a deep slumber.


	4. Rest

It seemed to Abbey that ever since she'd come to this ship all her time had been spent either sinking gratefully down into sleep, or waking suddenly, not able to remember where she was or how she had gotten there. Simon still refused to let her exert herself too much: she was barely allowed to leave her room unless she was in the med bay. Apparently - as if things could be any worse - on top of her concussion and the damage to her eye she had also lost a lot of blood, which without a compatible type, Simon had not been able to replace. So it seemed her body had to recover its strength the old fashioned way. Rest. Abbey officially hated the word; it was all Simon spoke of. Rest, rest, rest, rest, rest!

Back home Abbey would have loved an excuse to lie about in bed for half the morning. But now - through the sheer fact that it was being forced on her – she found it immensely annoying. She was even actually _missing_ exercise. Not that she'd been very good at the fitness thing in the past, but she'd still managed. Now she wasn't allowed to. _T__a ma de_! She _couldn't_ even if she was allowed. Over the past week she'd managed to stop feeling light-headed every time she wandered over to the med bay from her bed, but she knew it'd be a while before she'd be bounding up steps and climbing trees. Well it was not like a space ship had an abundance of trees to climb anyway. Abbey sighed, then forced herself to push down her frustration and turn her attention back to Simon who was packing up his equipment after performing his final tests on her slowly improving vision.

"I still would like to do occasional tests on your eye," he concluded. "But it is gradually improving, and there is nothing to suggest that full vision will not be restored completely, in time." This was a relief to Abbey. Simon had said during her first tests that if it did not improve, then it may get worse until she was completely bind in her left eye.

Mal shifted his weight from one foot to the other for what seemed to Abbey like the hundredth time. He had been standing rather unobtrusively near the door but the fact that he had absolutely no reason or purpose in being there had drawn him constantly to her attention during Simon's examination. "Why is he here?" she demanded of Simon, rather rudely.

"Inara wants to know you're all right," Mal supplied. "I'm here to make sure you are; so as I can tell her to stop callin' and maybe get some peace and some sleep for the first night since we picked you up..."

Abbey felt momentarily guilty. She wanted to talk to Inara herself. To tell her she was alright, and thank her for her help. But she'd been worried that the calls would not be private, and it would be hard to lie to Inara about what had happened to her. So when Simon had declared that she was not well enough to travel anywhere on the ship with a communications terminal she had not protested very much.

As far as Mal supervising her tests went, she was sure that wasn't so much to do with re-assuring Inara as it was to do with keeping an eye on her. He didn't trust her; that was plain. She wouldn't trust herself either, if she were in his position, but there was a difference between keeping an eye on someone and prying unnecessarily into their personal matters. It was a difference the Capt'n had yet to grasp.

Abbey had sensed a very closed off vibe from Mal and Simon. They were holding a lot back; most probably they would not like to run into the Alliance. Mal at least looked the border planet type. However, she knew it was not her business to know what they were hiding, and why they were hiding it. She wished Mal would follow the same logic when it came to her allusiveness about her past.

"I've got other things need attending to." Mal announced, breaking her train of thought. She watched him stalk out of her room and then turned to Simon.

"I don't think he likes me very much," she said.

"He doesn't really like anyone much." Simon replied, smiling. "How are you feeling, are very tired?" he added.

Abbey was about to say yes - out of habit, but then she realized that she was actually feeling quite fine. "Not really," she answered. "I am feeling very hungry though."

"Well, it's almost dinner time. Would you like to join us this time?" Simon offered. Abbey felt suddenly nervous. She hadn't officially met anyone else since she'd boarded the ship, confined as she was to bed. She had the distinct impression that someone had been keeping most of them away from her as well. She knew, for a fact, two more people other than Simon slept and lived in the dorms near her room but she had so far only caught glimpses of them. Maybe they were hanging back to give her some room and privacy while she settled in. If so, she certainly appreciated it. If not, she wondered what Mal had to hide that made him so cautious and so protective of his crew to keep them away from a harmless enough passenger.

"All right," she replied, forcing herself to smile. It was about time she met everyone else, she couldn't put it off forever.

Simon picked up his bag, walking over to the door. "I'll leave you to get ready, and send Mal to come and get you in a little while," he called over his shoulder before opening the door and striding out.

When Mal returned for her a short time later, Abbey had washed and changed into a neat lilac dress. She smiled slightly when he did a double take; they hadn't seen her dressed as a woman yet. But he recovered quickly, and turned, leading her up the stairs and down the corridor to the kitchen.

Abbey trailed along behind Mal, taking in the corridors of her temporary home as she went. It was a little shabby, she'd expected that, but it had charm.

* * *

_Ta ma de! = Dammit!_


	5. Introductions

Author's note: I'd just like to thank everyone who's given me feedback on this story so far. I am so pleased that there are people out there who are interested in Abbey. :) I especially got a lot of feedback on the last chapter and I know a lot of people are looking out for this chapter coz Abbey gets to meet everyone else. :S So, I am verrrrrry nervous about this chapter; that's why it's taken so long. I hope I didn't butcher everyone's favourite crew members. Please leave feedback, I want to see how I'm doing with these people so I know if I need to re-assess how I write them in the future.

* * *

When Abbey and Mal reached the kitchen it was crowded with people. The second she saw them she faltered, stopping in the doorway as the chatter died down and all eyes turned to her. She looked up shyly and caught Simon's eye. As the only person besides Mal in the room that she knew, he looked very friendly. Mal cleared his throat, and gradually the conversation resumed, people continued to eat. Most looked away. Most.

As Mal showed her to her seat between him and Simon, she glanced around at everyone. Her eyes reached the man who'd been there the night she'd arrived. She couldn't remember everything from that night, but she remembered his name. It was Jayne, she was almost certain. He watched her unabashedly as she sat looking back at him. Her skin crawled and she pulled the already modest neckline of her dress up. He smirked.

"Jayne. You're drooling," the man on his left commented, shooting Abbey a warm and apologetic smile. She smiled back uncertainly. See? she thought to herself. This socializing thing isn't too bad.

"Abbey, this is our pilot Wash," Mal explained, gesturing towards the man who had smiled. "Next to him's Zoe-"

"My better half," Wash joked and smiled at her. The woman smiled back at him and the fierceness that Abbey had found intimidating at first glance left her face.

"That there's Jayne, you've already met him." Mal continued, pointed to the smirking man on the other side of Wash. "And down the end's Sheppard Book." Abbey nodded at Book, she ignored Jayne.

Mal leaned back in his seat to point past her down their side of the table. "You know Simon, that's River – Simon's oh-so-shiny sister." He pointed at a young woman sitting on the other side of Simon and something stirred in Abbey's memory but she dismissed it quickly. "an' down the end's Kaylee - our mechanic." Kaylee smiled warmly up the table at Abbey. Abbey couldn't help but smile back.

"Pleased to meet you," Abbey said, even though her emotions were closer to overwhelmed than pleased. That wasn't their fault.

"This is Abbey," Mal concluded to everyone, which gave them all another excuse to sneak looks at her. Done with being polite, Abbey tilted her head forward and let her thick hair fall around her face. Dinner lapsed into a quiet, peaceful event.

Eventually she felt brave enough to look up again, and caught Wash's eye. She was lucky he was both friendly and sitting opposite her. "So... you fly ships..?" she asked him awkwardly.

"Sure do," he enthused, as if her attempt at conversation didn't half resemble a rabbit flailing in a trap. "I've flown pretty much all over this verse," he continued. "Seen sights you couldn't dream." He really sounded enthusiastic about piloting. Abbey decided she liked him.

"You grew up on Persephone?" he asked casually. Well, she had invited conversation. Questions were sure to follow.

"Yes," she answered. "For the most part." He seemed happy to ignore the vague nature of her answer.

"How do you know Inara?" Kaylee asked.

Everyone turned to look at Abbey, as if this was the most interesting question they had ever heard. "How did Inara... say I knew her..?" she asked.

Everyone looked away, except Jayne. "Inara didn't tell us much about you. Just said an old client of hers needed help." Mal provided.

"Now why would Inara lie 'bout a thing like that?" Jayne mused, seemingly to no-one in particular. Abbey ignored him again.

"Well that explains why you didn't see through my rather dubious 'boy disguise'," she contemplated, trying to change the subject.

"Why _did_ you pretend to be a boy?" Mal asked curiously.

Abbey frowned. She should have known these questions would come and she was angry at herself for leading Mal right into that particular one. "I didn't feel like being a girl," she stated sharply.

"So where are you headed now?" Book asked, trying to change the subject.

"I don't exactly know.." Abbey replied. "My brother's probably on Mindor... Do you know it? It's on the border somewhere I think." She trailed off and the table lapsed into silence. "Well, you don't have to take me there, I don't even know how long the money 'nara gave you will last."

Wash looked thoughtful for a second. "I think I know Mindor. Little moon settlement way out on the other side of the verse to where we're headed. It'd be best if we took you there though. Won't find many ships'll take you that far that are honorable like us." He smiled over at her as if this was some joke, but Abbey didn't get it.

Abbey looked at Mal. "I don't care if it takes a while, I'm in no rush. Will the money cover it? I don't even know how much 'nara gave you, but-"

"It'll cover it," Mal stated quickly. "An' we can turn round and head that way in 'bout a week. We've got some commitments should be taken care of by then."

Abbey looked back at her plate and finished her dinner in silence. The rest of the table talked quietly around her but she was too busy with her thoughts to listen. She wondered what she'd do if Griff wasn't on Mindor. Maybe she should give up on trying to make a life on some dusty border planet and do something else. But what? Abbey had never really warmed to the idea of living out there with her brother, but she really had no other options. Didn't she? Perhaps she could find somewhere else to settle, somewhere with a little more excitement to offer than watching sand and dirt get blown across a few rocks. Mindor had sounded miserable in her brother's letters. Well, he'd thought it was beautiful. Red sand, jagged rocks. But to her it sounded flat, dry, barren. That wasn't beauty.

Abbey's train of thoughts was interrupted there by a question. She pulled her attention back out of herself and to the table. She was surprised to find Simon and Mal had gone. Some of the others had disappeared as well, but she couldn't remember who'd been there exactly.

"You've been pushin' that lump of food 'round your plate for a good ten minutes now. You done eatin'?" Jayne repeated. He was standing next to Abbey with a stack of plates in his hand. The only other people in the room were Kaylee and Zoe.

Abbey handed Jayne her plate. "Can I help?" she offered, even though she'd rather not. Still, she began to slowly collect the mugs and cutlery absentmindedly without waiting for an answer. Jayne just shrugged and didn't try to stop her, but Kaylee walked over and took the handful of things from her.

"You don't need to do that," she said kindly. Abbey let her take them. She hadn't really wanted to anyway.


	6. The Jayne Perspective

Jayne dumped the dishes into the sink. Zoe shot him a glance, but he didn't notice. His attention was focused elsewhere. His eyes darted between the task at hand an' the kitchen table. The new girl was talkin' to Kaylee; pretendin' that she didn't wanna be left alone, and doin' a poor job of it from what he could see.

She sat on the chair with her legs crossed. Her hands in her lap fiddled with the hem of her dress while her good eye darted 'round the room, lookin' everywhere but at Kaylee. Her bruise had near completely healed since he'd last seen her, but her face was still a bit swollen. Jayne studied the right side of it; without the damaged half blemishing her appearance she was fair lookin'. He smiled broadly as his eyes dropped to survey her figure. He definitely appreciated that. Too many women, 'specially on this boat, hid their body behind practical clothes. Her dress covered more than it could've, but he liked the way the thin material hugged her curves. He'd near choked on his food when she'd walked in the room tonight - after only seein' her in them boy's clothes. For a second her eye connected with his gaze, and her mouth twitched in a frown, lines forming across her brow. Then she dropped her eyes to her hands an' kept them there. Jayne turned his attention back to the dishes.

"Where on Persephone did you grow up?" Kaylee asked brightly.

"You know, in the major settlement," the girl answered, obviously reluctantly. He suspected from her clothes an' the way she talked that she'd grown up in the upper-class part of the settlement. But for whatever reason they weren't privileged to know that. He could understand her not wantin' to talk about the bruise - girls got skittish 'bout them things. But this girl rivaled Mal in her stubborn privacy.

"When was the last time you saw Inara?" Kaylee piped up again after a while.

Jayne looked up to see th' girl shrug casually. "I haven't seen her since the last time she was on Persephone – when she was still flying with you I guess." He watched the tiny flicker of a smile fly over the girl's lips so quickly he almost didn't catch it.

"I remember she was complaining about Mal. She said he was a..." she trailed off there, seeming to realize who she was talking to.

Kaylee sighed. "That must've been at least two years ago."

"Yeah," the girl nodded slowly. "That sounds about right."

Zoe shifted from one foot to the other, as she leaned against the wall by the door. She looked bored, obviously wasn't happy 'bout babysittin' while Mal discussed their passenger with Simon. The doc had seemed mighty protective of her since she'd arrived too, but Jayne s'posed it was just a doctor thing. He'd overheard Mal tryin' to make Simon let the girl take a call from Inara the other day. Simon had shot him down. Not like takin' a call was bad for her or nothin'. Simon knew Mal wanted to watch the call t' find out about her past but did he really think Inara was as clueless as that, to not know he'd be listening?

Just then Simon re-entered the room. "Mal wants to talk to you," he informed Zoe. She nodded and then caught Jayne's eye - giving him a look that told him clearly he was the new babysitter. He shrugged.

Done with the dishes he walked out from behind the sink and leaned against the front side of the bench, crossing his arms across his chest and pretending he didn't have anything better to do than stand about. "Are you feeling tired?" Simon asked the girl.

She shook her head. "I'm fine." She was sure good at not saying much.

"Well, I'm going to head back to the infirmary, I have some things I've got to do there, you know where it is if you need to talk?"

The girl smiled and nodded. "Thank you."

Kaylee looked at the girl then at the door - clearly torn as to whether she should tag after the doc or stay here. She didn't need to make a decision though, because the girl stood suddenly and sighed. "I should probably get back to my room," she stated, stretching her arms up and yawning to underline her statement.

"I can take you," Kaylee said kindly.

"No that's alright; I can find my own way. You don't need to wait on me." Kaylee smiled supportively and then turned quickly to leave the room. Still the girl made no attempt to leave.

"You goin' then?" Jayne asked gruffly.

She glared over at him. "Maybe, Maybe not."

"Well I ain't goin' no-where," he warned her.

She sighed and sank back into her seat, leaning forward to rest her face in her hands. Jayne shifted his weight awkwardly from one foot to the other. He didn't want her gettin' all emotional on him. But she just sat there quietly, staring at the table.

Abbey sat at the table avoiding looking up at Jayne. She would have thought he would tire of watching her soon enough, but every time she'd looked at him tonight he'd been looking back. It was more than a little creepy but at least he was doing it quietly - for now.

"Aren't you going to ask me all sorts of inane questions?" she asked sharply, still staring determinedly at the table.

Jayne grunted and she raised her gaze to see him shrug. "What for?"

Well that was refreshing at least. Maybe she could finally enjoy some peace and quiet without the boring stillness of her room.

"You don't say much do you?" Jayne commented after a while, breaking Abbey's peaceful reflection.

"I don't have a lot to say," she muttered - adding _to you_ under her breath and hoping he'd leave it there. But he didn't.

"Listen, Mal's gonna come back an' he'll prob'ly give you _the lecture._ Just so you know that last bit's more like a guideline than a rule." Abbey looked up at him, confused. He smirked at her.

"Let me guess," she stated dryly. "It involves fraternization? Typical."

Jayne pushed off the bench and came to sit opposite her at the table. "Typical? Maybe. I'm just sayin' you're a pretty little thing an-"

"Whoa – you're not very subtle are you?" Abbey interrupted. "You ever hear of flirting?"

Jayne smirked over the table at her. "Well, yeah. But I've no use for it."

"Really?" Abbey raised her eyebrow skeptically. Somehow she got the impression that he didn't attract many long-term partners with that tact.

Jayne shrugged. "I'm a direct kinda guy, don't see the point in it."

"Well that's lovely an' all." Abbey smiled insincerely. "I'm sure you have the ladies lining up for you, really. But you're just not my type. Sorry."

"Well, if you ever change your mind..." Jayne trailed off and lapsed back into quietness. Abbey had just decided she'd rather be in her boring room when the door slid open and Mal strode in.

"Jayne, you can go. I'll show Abbey back to her room."

"I can find my own way," Abbey interjected quickly. Just because she didn't want to sit here anymore, didn't mean she wanted to talk to him.

"I want to talk to you anyway," Mal said, making it clear that he was not asking.

Abbey sighed and stood up, following him out the door and into the hall. She glanced back at Jayne on her way out, and saw his eyes travel down her body. A shiver slid up her spine as she turned her attention back to Mal who had already started talking. "...says your pretty near healed, which means you're a passenger now, not a patient, and that means rules."

Abbey smiled; apparently the Capt'n was pretty predictable. Mal turned and stopped walking, forcing her to pull up quickly to avoid crashing into him. "I'm Capt'n of this boat and while you're on it, you do as I say," he lectured. "You're paying for us to take you to your brother, which we'll do as soon as we're finished with other business. While you're here, you'll stick to the area around your quarters, or the kitchen. All other areas, especially the cargo bay are off limits without a member of my crew present."

He turned to continue down the hall, but then spun back. "An' crews quarters what aren't your own are off limits, no matter who's with you." he added, before continuing down the stairs. Abbey shrugged. There was no way she'd want to break that rule.

When they reached her door he stopped one last time. Abbey tried to slip past him into her room before he asked her more private questions, but he blocked her doorway. "Ahem," he cleared his throat awkwardly. "Your-past-is-none-of-my-business-and-I-won't-ask-you-about-it-again."

Abbey raised her eyebrow. "Sorry, I didn't hear that."

"I've decided," Mal started with a face that clearly communicated that it wasn't his decision and he didn't like it at all. "It's none of my business what happened to you and so I won't ask you 'bout it again."

Abbey's mouth twitched in a tiny smile of victory. "Thank you."

Mal didn't reply, simply strode past her and back up the stairs. As Abbey watched him go she decided it was about time she called Inara.


End file.
